First Steps
by WinterSky101
Summary: Kallus left the Geonosian moon on board the Ghost, and left his old life and alliances behind with it. Post-2.15 (The Honorable One) AU. First in "The Seed of Redemption."


**As promised, a longer Rebels fic (which is also about Kallus). After watching "The Honorable Ones," I couldn't stop wondering what would have happened if Kallus had gone with Zeb at the end. I couldn't find a fic that was exactly what I wanted, so I wrote my own.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Rebels.**

* * *

The sound of the ship flying overhead wasn't what woke Kallus, but something must have, for he jerked awake to find that, at some point during the night, he and Zeb had leaned against each other. They both pushed away from each other when they woke, but the noise quickly stopped the petty irritation.

"That's... a ship," Kallus said slowly. He hadn't expected that anyone would actually come. He'd told Zeb that the Empire would find them, but he was on his last chance after losing the Lothal rebels so many times, and he doubted they'd put that much effort into looking for him.

"Yeah, but whose?" Zeb asked. He stood, offering Kallus a hand. "Come on," he told him, helping Kallus pull himself upright. His leg was unbelievably sore. Distantly, he realized he'd stopped shivering, but he wasn't sure if that was because of the temperature rising or oncoming hypothermia.

Kallus limped a short ways with Zeb's support, moving far enough that they could see around the rock to the ship that had landed. "Ah," he stated, disappointment heavy in his chest. He had known it wouldn't be the Empire, but still... "Your friends did find you."

"Like I said they would," Zeb replied as the Ghost touched down. "You know," he added, "we will treat you fairly."

A refusal was at the tip of Kallus' tongue. He had the feeling that, if he told Zeb he wanted to take his chances with the Empire, Zeb would respect that. But taking his chances with the Empire meant that, more likely than not, Kallus would freeze to death on this forgotten moon and be forgotten himself before too long.

"You will?" he asked dubiously.

Zeb snorted. "More fairly than your Empire would treat me," he retorted, and Kallus had the feeling he was telling the truth.

"Well, I suppose being a prisoner is better than freezing to death," he sighed.

"Thought the Empire would be coming," Zeb retorted. Kallus looked down. They wouldn't be coming. If they had even bothered looking at all, they'd call off the search before too long. Perhaps, this time last year, they'd still be looking, but his superiors had quickly gotten sick of his lack of results when it came to the Lothal rebels. The Empire didn't put resources into searching for anyone who wasn't useful.

"We should get off this frozen wasteland," Zeb declared, shouldering more of Kallus' weight as they began to make their way to the Ghost. The pain in Kallus' leg increased with every step. He hoped the rebels would allow him some sort of medical treatment or the leg might become permanently damaged. If he were a prisoner of the Empire, he knew they wouldn't.

"Zeb!" the boy called as they approached, his cry quickly echoed by the girl.

"Told you he'd be fine," the Jedi replied flippantly. Kallus could see the change in their expressions the second they noticed him. The boy's face went rigid, the girl pulled out her guns, and the Jedi had his lightsaber at the ready before Kallus could even blink.

"Whoa!" Zeb called, moving in front of Kallus. Suddenly bereft of the support, Kallus swayed and only barely managed to regain his balance and keep himself from falling into the snow. "Calm down, you three."

"Did you hit your head when you crashed here?" the boy snapped. "That's _Agent Kallus_."

"Hadn't noticed," Zeb snarked. "Kallus and I were in the escape pod together when it crashed. He's agreed to come with us as our prisoner."

"The Ghost isn't equipped to handle prisoners," the Twi'lek remarked.

"You know we need his intel," Zeb retorted. Kallus stayed silent. He had the feeling that the boy and the girl were both one wrong word away from shooting him, and his day had been bad enough already. "Anyway, it's not like he could get far with his leg."

"We could bring him to the med bay and cuff him to the cot," the Jedi -Kanan Jarrus, according to the records - suggested. Kallus supposed that, if he was going to be staying with them, he ought to start thinking of them by their names.

"He's surrendered to us," Zeb stated emphatically. "We're not leaving him here."

"It's not like it's any less than what he deserves," the boy - Ezra Bridger - muttered under his breath. Kallus figured he probably deserved that. To his surprise, Zeb glared at Bridger.

"Kallus saved my life here. Twice." The others all looked shocked. Kallus supposed he deserved that too. "I'm not leaving him here to freeze. We're bringing him with us, and I've promised him we'll treat him fairly."

"In that case, it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," the Twi'lek - Hera Syndulla - stated. "Kanan, go prepare the med bay." Jarrus disappeared into the ship. At a motion from Syndulla, the girl - Sabine Wren - put her blasters back in their holsters, looking disgruntled. Kallus wondered if perhaps he'd made the wrong decision.

"Commander Sato will be pleased," Syndulla added. "We've never captured an ISB officer before."

"Come on," Zeb told Kallus, gesturing for him to board the Ghost. Slowly, his broken leg trembling under his weight, Kallus climbed onboard. Zeb led him to the med bay, where Jarrus was waiting with a set of handcuffs.

"Get up on the cot," Jarrus told Kallus, his voice hard. Kallus looked at the cot, then looked down at his leg. His bo-rifle was still being used as a splint for his leg, meaning he couldn't bend it. It wasn't going to be easy to get up on the cot.

"Come here," Zeb stated, and before Kallus could do a thing, Zeb picked him up and placed him on the bed. Kallus hissed in pain as the movement jarred his leg. Jarrus latched one of the cuffs on the side of the cot and the other around Kallus' wrist.

"How's the leg?" Zeb asked.

Kallus let out a soft, breathy noise of mixed pain and amusement. "Still broken," he replied. He could feel the bones grind and knew it would have to be set. Hopefully, the rebels would be willing to do it.

"Do you want a painkiller?" Jarrus asked.

Kallus blinked. "A what?"

"Don't tell me the Empire doesn't believe in painkillers," Zeb replied, only half joking.

"Not for prisoners," Kallus replied honestly.

Jarrus' face looked like it was carved out of stone. "We're not the Empire. Do you want a painkiller?"

"Yes, please," Kallus finally replied. Jarrus reached for a perigen patch and pressed it against Kallus' neck. Numbness immediately spread through Kallus' body, canceling out both the pain in his leg and the pain of the hundred other little hurts from the cold and the crash.

"I'll guard him," Jarrus offered, his lightsaber in his hand.

Zeb shot Kallus a look he couldn't decipher, then frowned. "We should all talk," he countered. "Like I said before, he's not going far on that leg, especially not once we take off."

Jarrus looked displeased. Kallus watched him with some trepidation. He didn't know how the rebels would treat a prisoner, but he knew how the Empire treated their prisoners, and it wasn't well.

"Fine," Jarrus finally said, crossing the room and digging around in a box for a minute. When he turned around, it was with a syringe in his hand. Kallus' heart rate tripled. "But I'm sedating him."

"Is that okay?" Zeb asked. Kallus nodded, relieved that the needle held nothing more sinister than a sedative. Jarrus injected it into Kallus' arm. The drowsiness was immediate. Kallus blinked a few times, trying to fight the darkness encroaching on his vision. Jarrus stepped back. Kallus caught a glimpse of Zeb looking at him with an expression that almost looked like worry, then the sedatives took over and unconsciousness stole over him.

* * *

"Agent Kallus?" Ezra cried the second Zeb entered the common room. The ship had taken off and gone into hyperspace while Zeb was in the med bay with Kanan and Kallus, so everyone was in the common room. "Really, Zeb? _Agent Kallus_?"

"Kallus and I were both in the escape pod when we left the ship," Zeb explained. "We had to work together. I'm not gonna say we're friends, but he's not all bad."

"He's been trying to kill us for the past year!" Ezra protested. "He's an _Imperial_!"

"He's a high ranking ISB agent," Sabine remarked begrudgingly. "He can tell us a lot about the Empire that can help us fight them."

"Assuming he talks!" Ezra shouted. "Assuming he doesn't lie! We should have left him on that moon!"

"He surrendered to us," Zeb replied in a sharp voice. "Leaving him there would have been a death sentence."

"The Empire would have found him!" Ezra protested.

"Do you think he would have surrendered to us without a fight if he thought the Empire was going to find him?" Hera asked quietly. Ezra blinked, apparently caught off guard.

"Leaving people behind to die is not the Jedi way, even if they're enemies," Kanan added. "You should have more compassion for other living creatures."

"So you're saying you have compassion for Agent Kallus?" Ezra demanded.

"I'm saying we shouldn't have left him to freeze on that moon, no matter what he's done," Kanan retorted.

"We've all lost things to the Empire," Hera told Ezra. "But if we stoop to their level, how are we any better than they are?"

"I promised him we'd treat him fairly," Zeb put in.

"The Empire wouldn't treat any of us fairly!" Ezra cried.

"Did you listen to a word Hera just said?" Sabine snapped. "We're better than the Empire. We treat our prisoners better than the Empire treats theirs. We're not cruel, not like them."

With a frustrated stomp, Ezra stormed out of the room. "You better not be heading to the med bay!" Kanan yelled.

"I'm going to my room," Ezra yelled back. "Since you're not going to listen to me anyway!" It sounded as if he punched the access panel to open the door, then the door slid shut and Ezra's angry stomps stopped.

"Honestly, though, Zeb," Sabine stated a moment later. "Agent Kallus?"

"I didn't ask for him to get in the escape pod with me!" Zeb protested. "Anyway, you were the one who said he could give us intel!"

"Yeah, to make Ezra stop whining!" Sabine cried. "But I don't want him here any more than Ezra does!"

"It's no use arguing about the past," Kanan declared. "Kallus is our prisoner now. We've started down this path and we'll see it to the end."

"He'll help us," Zeb stated, although he had no way of knowing if it was actually true. He had a good feeling about Kallus now, one that had been decidedly absent before. He hoped that meant good things were yet to come.

"Someone should go make sure he's disarmed," Hera commanded. "And we should set his leg or it'll never heal properly."

"And someone should guard him," Sabine added darkly.

"I'm gonna to talk to Ezra." Kanan sighed. "I don't think we should leave him alone too long."

"I'll go man the cockpit," Sabine offered.

"I guess that leaves us to take care of Agent Kallus," Hera told Zeb. "While we're there, I want you to tell me everything that happened on that moon."

"Only if you tell me what was happening up here," Zeb replied. "Where's Rex?"

"He took the Phantom back to check in with Sato and the others," Hera replied. "We already told him that we found you. I should probably tell Sato about our prisoner too."

Hera and Zeb entered the med bay to find that Kallus had barely moved. He still had the meteorite, Zeb noticed, and he was cradling it to his chest as if the Ghost's med bay was just as cold as the Geonosian moon.

"How did he save your life?" Hera asked as she undid the bandages that held the makeshift bo-rifle splint to Kallus' leg.

"We weren't alone in that crater," Zeb replied, taking the bo-rifle when Hera pulled away the last bandage. "There were creatures in there with us. Kallus could've let them get me, but he didn't. He could have shot me twice, but he saved me instead."

"Hmm." Zeb knew that people talked about Kanan's Jedi face being hard to read, but Hera's face could be even harder when she wanted it to be. "Kanan sedated him, right?"

"Pretty heavy duty stuff," Zeb confirmed. "Why, you want to set his leg?"

"If we don't set it now, it won't heal properly," Hera replied. "I'm going to need you to do it."

"Argh, you know I hate that sort of stuff," Zeb protested, but he obediently put his hands on Kallus' leg, feeling for the spot where the bone had broken. He winced when he found it. The break was bad, probably close to breaking through the skin. It was a wonder Kallus had managed to walk at all.

"Alright, do it," Hera told Zeb. Carefully, Zeb popped the bone back into place. Kallus let out a soft gasp, but otherwise didn't react.

"I hate doing that," Zeb muttered again. Hera pulled out a splint and some bandages.

"Commander Sato might have some bacta to spare, but until then, we're going to have to wait for this to heal the old-fashioned way," she stated, splinting the leg with businesslike efficiency. "You brought him on board, so I think you're going to guard him."

"To keep him from escaping or to keep Ezra from killing him?" Zeb asked dryly.

Hera grinned. "Both, probably. Good luck." She closed the door behind her as she left the med bay, probably heading up to the cockpit. Zeb sat down, his bo-rifle strapped to his back and Kallus' propped up in the corner. Later, he'd take it to his room for safe keeping, but for now, he had to keep an eye on Kallus.

Which was incredibly boring, because Kallus was pumped full of enough sedatives to knock out a bantha.

Well, Zeb thought as he leaned back in the chair, he'd just have to wait for Kallus to wake up.

* * *

Kallus woke slowly, breaking free from the haze of the sedatives, in a place he didn't recognize.

"You're in the med bay of the Ghost," a familiar voice told him. Kallus looked around wildly until his eyes fell on Zeb, sitting forward in a chair. "You've been out for about two standard hours. Hera and I set your leg and bandaged it. Are you in any pain?"

Kallus stared at Zeb for a moment, his still-fuzzy brain working through the words. "The pain is manageable," he finally replied. His leg hurt, but Kallus had a high tolerance for pain. He hadn't reached an unmanageable point yet.

Zeb frowned. "You can have a painkiller if you're in pain," he told Kallus. "We've got enough."

The Empire had never encouraged officers to take painkillers. _Work through it,_ Kallus' first commanding officer had told him when he broke his arm. _If you can't handle a little pain, you don't deserve to be here._

"Did the Empire not believe in painkillers for agents either?" Zeb asked, a harsh undertone to his voice.

"Why would you waste painkillers on me when you intend to interrogate me anyway?" Kallus retorted.

Zeb flinched. "We don't interrogate prisoners like that," he told Kallus. "Someone will ask you questions, and if you give answers, you might get privileges or something. No one's going to hurt you."

"And does that method actually produce results?" Kallus asked derisively.

"We're not the Empire," Zeb told Kallus, crossing to get something out of a box. Kallus watched him with trepidation, but he only pulled out another perigen patch and set it next to the cot. "If you want this, use it."

"Have you been assigned as my guard?" Kallus asked, eyeing Zeb as he went back to his chair. "What exactly do you expect me to do while I'm handcuffed to a cot with a broken leg?"

"I'm sure you could figure something out, Agent," Zeb retorted. He wasn't _wrong_ ; Kallus had already figured out three potential ways to escape the room. But escaping the med bay would do him little good in hyperspace, especially considering the shuttle was gone. And anyway, he had no where to go. The Empire wouldn't take him back, and if he wanted to stay out of the Empire's grasp, staying with the rebels seemed like the best option.

"It's unnecessary," Kallus replied, but he found he didn't actually mind the company. Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

"Can I ask you a question?" Zeb asked after a pause.

"I am your prisoner," Kallus replied dryly. "The next step tends to be interrogation."

"It's not an interrogation, it's just a question," Zeb replied. "Why'd you join the Empire?"

Kallus looked at Zeb for a long moment. He should have been expecting this question, and yet...

"I was thirteen when the Clone Wars began," Kallus finally stated. "My older brother was an officer on a ship. He died a few months before the war ended." Zeb's face was full of sympathy. Kallus looked away. "And then suddenly, the Republic was gone and the new Empire had ended the war. I had always intended to follow my brother's footsteps and serve the Republic, but the Empire seemed much more effective. It was able to end the Clone Wars and keep another war from breaking out. That is- That _was_ my job. I shut down rebel cells before they could start an actual war. The Empire may do cruel things, but it keeps peace in the galaxy."

"So you're a pacifist," Zeb said, sounding doubtful.

"Not at all," Kallus disagreed, shaking his head. "But I do believe in the greater good. If the death of a handful of rebels will keep the galaxy from spiraling into civil war, I will kill them without hesitation."

"Why didn't you kill me?" Zeb asked. Kallus blinked. "I'm part of the rebellion," Zeb added. "The more organized rebellion. You could have killed me on that moon."

"I had a better chance of getting off it with you than alone," Kallus replied immediately. He was glad the words came to him so easily.

Zeb studied him for a moment, then shrugged. "You want that painkiller yet?"

In fact, Kallus rather did, but he wasn't about to admit it. "I'm fine," he replied curtly.

Zeb frowned. "Don't look it," he countered.

Kallus scowled. "If you think I need a painkiller so badly, then just give it to me. I _am_ your prisoner, after all."

"I'm starting to think you have a really screwed up view of how prisoners are treated," Zeb remarked.

"And I'm beginning to believe that your views on how to hold prisoners are utterly useless," Kallus retorted. "You're a fool if you think mercy and kindness will get you anywhere."

"We're not like the Empire," Zeb replied simply. "We're not gonna torture you just cause we feel like it."

"Then you're lucky that I'm willing to give you information," Kallus stated, "because otherwise you wouldn't get any."

Zeb shrugged. "If you're willing to give us information, then it's not important what we do for prisoners who aren't, is it?"

"Have you ever actually held a high ranking Imperial prisoner before?" Kallus snapped. "One with anti-interrogation training?"

"From what I've seen, anti-interrogation training's just a fancy way of saying being tortured by your own side," Zeb replied.

Kallus blinked. "That's not the _point_ ," he retorted. Perhaps he'd had nightmares about his own anti-interrogation training for weeks after taking it, but it had done its job, and he'd been able to resist interrogation on the two occasions he'd been taken prisoner. "Anti-interrogation training means that high ranking officers will not be swayed by your pitiful techniques. You're a fool if you think otherwise."

"If the alternative means treating you worse than your side did with your training, it's never gonna happen," Zeb declared.

Kallus scoffed. "There's no room for mercy in war."

Zeb shook his head. "There's always room for mercy."

"You sound more like a Jedi than a Lasat," Kallus accused.

Zeb shrugged. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Platitudes won't help you win this war," Kallus warned.

"The Empire rules with fear," Zeb replied. "And sooner or later, people get fed up with being scared. Like I told you, we're always getting more people coming over to our side."

"But will you have enough?" Kallus asked.

Zeb shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

* * *

When Kallus woke next, Bridger was standing next to his cot. There was a hardness in his eyes that Kallus recognized. He braced himself for pain. _I have withstood Imperial anti-interrogation training,_ he told himself firmly. _There is nothing this boy can do that will make me crack._

"I don't trust you," Bridger stated. He put a hand on Kallus' leg, right where it was broken. So that would be his play, focusing on the already-broken bone. Kallus could withstand that.

"Of course you don't," Kallus replied. "What reason would you have to trust me?"

Bridger scowled. "As long as you're cooperating as our prisoner, I'm not supposed to touch you," he told Kallus, which was interesting and much more enlightening than Bridger had probably thought it would be. "But," Bridger added, squeezing slightly on the broken bone, "if you hurt my friends, _any_ of them" - the pressure on Kallus' leg increased - "you will regret it."

"And you'll be the one to make me?" Kallus asked, his voice just edging on sarcastic.

Bridger glared, squeezing Kallus' leg so hard it took every ounce of his concentration to keep from crying out. "Yeah," he hissed. "I will."

"Ezra!" Jarrus' sharp voice was a greater relief than Kallus would have ever thought it to be. Bridger pulled away quickly as Jarrus entered the room.

"Hera wants you on the bridge," Jarrus told Bridger, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing," Bridger snapped, glaring at Kallus as he left the med bay.

Jarrus stood in the doorway, his eyes never leaving Kallus. "You can use that perigen patch whenever you want," he told him. The painkiller was still sitting next to the cot, untouched.

"I'm fine," Kallus replied, his voice carefully untouched by pain. If he had a chance to use the patch when no one was watching, perhaps he would, but he was loath to show any weakness in front of these rebels.

Jarrus crossed to stand next to the cot. "You're in pain," he said quietly. "I can feel it."

Kallus felt his heart rate increase. The worst part of anti-interrogation training was when the Grand Inquisitor had arrived and tried to pick information out of their heads. No one had been able to withstand him for long, but the Inquisitor had done it again and again without mercy. Kallus had been one of the best in his group, able to stand up to the Inquisitor's mental assault for nearly ten minutes, but he'd still stumbled off to the fresher and vomited after, sweating and shaking.

"So you've come to pull information from my head," Kallus stated, trying to sound brave. He wasn't sure if he fooled Jarrus; after all, he could get inside Kallus' head. "All Zeb's talk of merciful interrogations was just talk after all. I should have known you couldn't all be so foolish."

Jarrus looked honestly shocked for half a second before he was able to wipe all emotions from his face. "I'm not going to take any information from your mind," he told Kallus. "Jedi don't do that."

"My apologies," Kallus murmured. "It seems you are all that foolish."

"Your pain is obvious," Jarrus continued. "I can feel it strongly in the Force. Why won't you just use the patch?"

"If it's bothering you that much," Kallus muttered, taking the patch and pressing it to his neck. The relief was immediate. Kallus almost wanted to cry with the force of it.

Jarrus sat down in the chair next to the cot. "What happened on the Geonosian moon?"

Kallus pushed himself upright as much as he could with one hand cuffed to the cot. "Zeb would have told you the story already," he replied. "Why would you need me to tell it again?"

Jarrus shrugged. "Humor me," he replied dryly.

Kallus sighed. "Zeb tried to get into an escape pod, I followed him, we crashed onto the moon and through the ice. He fixed the transponder and we climbed to the surface so its signal could reach farther. Your ship got the call."

"You're leaving a lot out," Jarrus remarked.

"You know the story already," Kallus replied. "I didn't feel the need to retell everything."

"Zeb said you chose to come with us," Jarrus stated, leaning forward in the chair slightly. "He said he gave you a choice, and you chose us over the Empire. Why?"

"I didn't choose you over the Empire," Kallus scoffed. "The Empire doesn't use its resources to look for missing agents. I chose you over freezing to death on that forsaken moon."

"The Empire wouldn't have looked for you?" Jarrus asked.

"The Empire can be rather... brutal," Kallus replied. "You've experienced our hospitality before. I'm certain you remember." Jarrus pressed his lips together. Kallus pressed the advantage. "I certainly haven't forgotten. Your endurance was rather shocking."

"Why are you trying to goad us into torturing you?" Jarrus asked.

"Why aren't you doing it yet?" Kallus snapped. "I have been in this situation before, on both sides, and torture and interrogation are inevitable."

"So you want them to happen on your own terms," Jarrus stated slowly.

Kallus scowled. "Can you blame me?"

"We're not going to torture you." Jarrus' voice was almost gentle. "I don't expect you to believe me, but it's the truth."

"It's the most efficient way to get information out of prisoners," Kallus replied.

"And the most immoral," Jarrus countered. "You may be an Imperial, and you may be our prisoner, but you surrendered, and that matters to us. None of us is going to torture you."

For a moment, Kallus considered telling Jarrus what Bridger had done. It would be a wonderful way to sow division in the ranks. Bridger had clearly known that Jarrus wouldn't approve of what he was going, and he'd be furious with Kallus for telling anyone. But Kallus decided against it; he wasn't going to go telling tales like a child, and even if he were going to tell someone about Bridger's threats, he would wait until the best moment to do it. That moment hadn't arrived yet.

"Forgive me if I don't entirely believe you," Kallus stated instead.

Jarrus sighed. "Didn't expect you to."

* * *

"Why'd you call us all here, Hera?" Zeb asked, sitting down at the table. He'd sedated Kallus again, at Kanan's request. Hera had needed to talk to all of them, but Kanan wasn't about to leave Kallus conscious and unguarded.

Hera sighed. "Commander Sato has a mission for us," she stated wearily.

"A mission?" Ezra asked, sounding puzzled.

"Doesn't he know we've got a prisoner right now?" Sabine added.

"I know it's not ideal, but it's just a simple pick-up," Hera replied. "We just need to go in, grab some supplies, and move on. It's not far out of our way, and Sato doesn't have anyone else he can give this mission to. We can manage it."

"What do we do with Kallus?" Kanan asked.

"Leave him here, I guess," Hera replied, shrugging. "There are two locations where we need to go for supplies. One is food and the other is fuel. Sato has authorized me to take the fuel, so I'll have to get that. Everyone else can choose which they want to get."

"I'll go with you," Kanan told Hera immediately.

"And the rest of us can go get the food," Sabine finished.

"Shouldn't one of us stay here with Kallus?" Ezra asked.

"Chopper will stay," Hera replied. Chopper made a noise of indignation. "Oh, yes you will!" Hera snapped.

"How long until we reach the stop?" Kanan asked.

"Fifteen minutes, approximately," Hera replied. "So everyone should get ready to go."

"Kallus will probably wake up before that," Zeb remarked. Kanan had given him a small dose of sedatives this time, barely enough to knock him out.

"We can explain our plans to him," Hera replied. "I don't think he'll be a problem. His leg is still broken, and he's handcuffed to the cot. We can lock the door and set Chopper on him."

"If we come back and the Ghost is gone-" Ezra began threateningly.

"Do you really think just anyone can turn on the engines for the Ghost?" Hera asked dryly.

Zeb looked at Ezra and Sabine, who both looked about as confused as he felt. Kanan looked smug. "Um, yeah?" Ezra finally replied.

"I've made some modifications." Hera smirked. "Anyone who's not authorized to fly the Ghost can't get it off the ground. He's not going to steal it."

"Is that why I couldn't get the Ghost to take off last week?" Ezra demanded.

"Knew that one would come back to bite you," Kanan muttered.

"I'm not authorized to fly the Ghost?!" Ezra cried.

"We should prepare to go," Hera stated, ignoring Ezra's whining. "Zeb, you go tell Kallus what's happening. Take Chopper with you. Chop, you're in charge of making sure Kallus stays put." Chopper made an irritated whirring noise, but he followed Zeb to the door. "Oh, and Chop?" Hera called. "If Kallus tries to escape, feel free to taze him to the ground."

Chopper's answering chirp was filled with unholy glee.

* * *

The first five minutes after the rebels left the ship were calm. Kallus lay on the cot, still handcuffed to the side, and waited for them to get back. The droid was presumably somewhere on the ship, probably waiting for Kallus to try to escape so it could stop him. The little thing seemed awfully sadistic.

Then Kallus heard a soft buzzing that he recognized, and he immediately knew that the rebels' so-called "simple pick-up" wasn't going to be simple after all. If he was going to keep this from going horribly wrong - and stars preserve him, but he was - he would need to implement one of his escape plans.

The handcuff attached to his wrist was an old Imperial cuff. They'd been phased out a year back and replaced with a newer model. Someone had discovered that the cuffs had a weak spot. Kallus reached as far as he could and just barely was able to grab the needle that Zeb had used to administer his sedative earlier. The rebels hadn't put it away - they would never have passed an Imperial quarters inspection - but Kallus was more relieved than annoyed. Carefully, he pulled the cuffs until they were taut, then he angled the needle in just the right way and stabbed the locking mechanism in just the right spot. Immediately, the handcuffs popped open.

Kallus swung his legs off the cot and limped over to the door. It was locked, but it only took an instant to reach the wiring of the locking mechanism and override it. The doors opened with a soft _woosh_ and Kallus stepped out. He listened for a moment, then he turned right and began limping down the hall.

Then he heard a crackling noise behind him, and he remembered the droid.

"Your ship is under attack," Kallus stated, turning around slowly. "Do you hear that buzzing? Those are Imperial droids that are drilling into your engine. They're going to sabotage the hyperdrive, and if we don't stop them, the hyperdrive will blow while we're using it and there'll be pieces of us in a dozen sectors. Are you going to stop the droids or are we going to argue pointlessly here?"

The droid made a strange, suspicious whirring sound. Kallus had no idea what it said, but it turned and rolled away from him, towards the cargo bay. Kallus assumed it was going to go outside and deal with the droids. He let it do that; he had more important things to deal with.

The droids wouldn't be here alone. Stormtroopers were coming, and they'd arrive soon. As much as the idea of going against the Empire felt strange, Kallus had thrown his lot in with the rebels, and now he had to deal with the consequences.

There was the matter of getting a weapon. Kallus assumed that most of the weaponry had gone with the rebels, but perhaps his bo-rifle was somewhere on the ship. If he could find that, he could pick off the incoming stormtroopers until the rest of the rebels arrived. They'd said they wouldn't be more than ten minutes. Kallus hoped that timeline was still correct, but he had no way of knowing if the droids' attack on the Ghost was part of a larger plan or just a coincidence. He hadn't _heard_ anything about plans to capture the rebels on this run, and it wouldn't be out of the question for the Empire's scouts to have just stumbled upon the ship.

Kallus' bo-rifle was in a room he suspected belonged to Zeb and Bridger. He grabbed it and limped off to the cargo bay. He could fight the stormtroopers from there. His bo-rifle worked better as a cane than he would have expected, and he was able to get to the cargo bay fairly quickly.

The first of the stormtroopers were approaching the ship. "Approach with caution," Kallus heard the leader advise. "These rebels are highly dangerous."

Kallus flattened himself on the wall next to the door out of the ship. Carefully, he poked the end of his bo-rifle out and shot at the commanding officer. The blast hit him in the throat and he dropped immediately.

"What was that?" one of the stormtroopers yelled.

"It came from the ship!" another cried. Kallus took him out with another shot.

"Open fire!" a third stormtrooper cried.

There were only three troopers left to begin firing. The group of five was undoubtedly just a small percentage of the troopers that would soon be attacking the Ghost. Kallus had no doubts in his ability to take down this group before reinforcements arrived.

Another of Kallus' shots hit a stormtrooper. "Move closer," one of the two remaining troopers advised. "And don't stop firing."

Kallus knew that his sniping wouldn't take the troopers by surprise anymore. He needed to shock them some other way. Taking a deep breath, Kallus stepped out into the doorway, bo-rifle at the ready.

"Isn't that Agent Kallus?" one of the troopers asked. Both of them halted in their firing momentarily. It was all Kallus needed to shoot them both.

The droid came out, whirring something. Kallus thought it sounded rather triumphant. In its hands were two Imperial droids.

"They normally work in pairs," Kallus told the droid. "Did they damage the hyperdrive?"

The droid made a sound that Kallus thought was a no. It dropped the droids and made a movement that almost appeared as if it were gesturing at the fallen stormtroopers. It wouldn't have been the strangest thing Kallus ever saw.

"There'll be more," he told the droid grimly. "Can you get in contact with the rest of your rebels? They should get back sooner rather than later."

The droid made a whirring noise, then pulled out a comm and activated it. Kallus leaned against the wall, taking the weight off his broken leg for the moment. In a firefight, he couldn't afford the luxury of favoring one leg, but in this quiet moment, he could risk it.

The droid whirred at Kallus again, this time sounding more panicked. Kallus had already noticed the sudden hail of blaster bolts himself.

"Can you man one of the guns?" he asked the droid, shooting his bo-rifle and missing. The droid let out an affirmative sounding chirp. "Then go do it now!" The droid rolled off, leaving Kallus alone in the doorway. He leaned over and fired again, hitting a stormtrooper in the chest. A moment later, a blast from one of the ship's cannons sent two stormtroopers flying backwards. Kallus was glad of the backup. His leg was protesting holding his weight, and he was beginning to wish he'd grabbed a painkiller before leaving the med bay.

Then blasts from behind started hitting the stormtroopers, and Kallus had never been so relieved to see rebels in his life. He hit another trooper as Syndulla ran onboard, Jarrus following her with a loader full of fuel tanks.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jarrus yelled.

"Trying to save your ship," Kallus retorted, shooting another trooper. "Are you helping or not?"

"I'll prep for takeoff," Syndulla stated, firing once more and running to the cockpit. Jarrus fired his blaster a few times, hitting a stormtrooper. Kallus took down another trooper as well.

"Wouldn't it be more effective if you went out there with that lightsaber of yours?" Kallus shouted.

Jarrus glared, but he grabbed his lightsaber. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but cover me," he told Kallus, putting the two pieces together and igniting the blade. Kallus stepped out, prompting more surprised exclamations of "Agent Kallus?", and began firing into the crowd of stormtroopers. And, in a move that seemed to come directly out of old Clone Wars HoloNet coverage, Jarrus held up his lightsaber and ran off the ship.

It had always been said that one Jedi was worth a hundred soldiers. Once, when Kallus had said that, his older brother had shaken his head seriously. "A Jedi is worth a _thousand_ soldiers," he'd said, and Kallus had listened with wide-eyed awe. Watching Jarrus now, he was pretty sure his brother had been right.

Kallus went back to sniping at the stormtroopers the best he could. He had to be more careful now. He didn't want to run the risk of hitting Jarrus with friendly fire. Jarrus was doing pretty well himself, but there were more and more stormtroopers coming. Kallus was beginning to think they'd be doing this forever.

Then a second lightsaber joined Jarrus', and shots from a second bo-rifle began hitting the troopers. With help from Zeb, Bridger and Jarrus held the troopers off for long enough that Wren was able to get her supplies onto the ship. The other three followed her, Jarrus yelled for Hera to take off _now_ , and the ship began rising into the air, leaving the still-firing stormtroopers behind. Kallus slumped against the wall, his broken leg screaming in pain.

And then Bridger aimed a lightsaber at his throat.

"Ezra!" Jarrus yelled. Zeb took a step forward, but Kallus didn't move, looking up at Bridger as calmly as he could.

"What are you doing?" Bridger snarled. "Did you call those troopers here?"

"Ezra, he was firing at them!" Jarrus protested. "He was covering me!"

The droid rolled into the cargo bay, whirring at top speed. Bridger ignored it, but Jarrus furrowed his brow and listened. "Chopper says that Kallus helped him save the ship!"

"Chopper was supposed to taze him to the ground if he escaped," Bridger snapped back.

"I think we could all use to talk," Jarrus stated. "You included, Kallus."

"I'm taking this," Bridger muttered petulantly, grabbing the bo-rifle out of Kallus' hands.

"No, I am," Zeb corrected, grabbing it away from Bridger. "I'll go put this back."

Kallus watched him go with a hint of regret. He doubted his leg would support him for very long, if at all, but he doubted any of the other rebels would be as willing to help him as Zeb.

"Sabine, you go tell Hera we need to have a meeting," Jarrus stated. Wren nodded and ran off. "Ezra, you get the supplies secured." Bridger grumbled, but did as he was told. "And you're with me," Jarrus told Kallus, holding out a hand. Kallus stared at it for a long moment before accepting the help. The second he got to his feet, he swayed, his leg immediately rejecting any attempt to put weight on it.

"You shouldn't have walked around like that," Jarrus told Kallus, wrapping an arm around his torso and supporting some of his weight. "You're going to permanently damage your leg." Kallus cautiously limped along with Jarrus, wondering if he was really going to help him all the way.

"I should have let your ship be taken, then?" Kallus retorted.

"Thank you, for helping us," Jarrus replied, which wasn't what Kallus had been expecting him to say at all. "I'm still not sure why you did it, but thank you."

"There are no neutral parties in this war," Kallus replied. "The Empire will not let me live after this. Thus, I am against the Empire. It's in my best interests to throw in my lot with you." Kallus remembered what Zeb had said about Geonosis and the questions Kallus hadn't been asking. Even if the Empire would take him back, Kallus wasn't sure he wanted to go.

Bridger was waiting when Kallus and Jarrus reached the sitting area. "Ezra..." Jarrus began.

"I put everything away!" Bridger protested. "You can go check if you want. I was fast." Jarrus sighed. Kallus sat down, trying not to draw attention to himself. He was beginning to think that Bridger was the most dangerous of all the rebels. He was emotional, intensely so. If he got it into his head that Kallus was an immediate threat, Kallus didn't know if he would hesitate.

Zeb came in with Wren, Syndulla, and the droid. "Chopper can only tell me part of the story," Syndulla told Kallus immediately. "Tell me what happened."

"I heard buzzing and I recognized it," Kallus replied. "It's a new Imperial invention. Tiny droids break into an engine and sabotage the hyperdrive. It would have seemed functional until we were already using it, then it would have malfunctioned and the ship would have exploded."

"So you told Chopper about it and sent him to stop the droids," Syndulla stated. "And then you fought off stormtroopers, according to him."

"As long as I am traveling on this ship, it's in my best interests to keep it from being blown up," Kallus retorted. "Would you rather I let the ship be captured by the Empire?"

"I want to know why you didn't go back," Wren stated, leaning forward. "You could have returned to the Empire with our ship as a prize. Why didn't you?"

"Just the Ghost would not be enough for the Empire," Kallus dismissed. "I would need to bring all of you in as well to please them. And even then, it might not be enough."

"Enough for what?" Jarrus asked.

Kallus sighed. "Aside from the highest ranking officers, the Empire considers everyone who has been captured to be compromised. There are no rescue missions. Orders will be to shoot me on sight. They would have been even if I hadn't fired on those Stormtroopers."

"You're a high ranking ISB officer," Zeb remarked. "That doesn't get you rescuing privileges?"

"There are only so many failures my superiors can stomach," Kallus replied. "The station on Geonosis was my last chance at capturing you. I was due for a demotion any day now."

"They don't rescue people?" Bridger asked cautiously. "At all?"

"Did you expect compassion from the Empire?" Kallus retorted. "There are no rescue missions. When I chose to board this ship, I made myself an Imperial fugitive. It seemed better than freezing to death." Kallus gave the rebels a condescending glance, as if he'd judged them and found them wanting. "Perhaps I made the wrong decision."

There was silence for a long moment. Jarrus broke it. "Hera, did you tell Commander Sato that we got what he asked for?"

"I did," Syndulla replied. "We're en route to his command ship now."

"Alright." Jarrus held out a hand to Kallus. "Let's get you back to the med bay. I guess we can forgo the handcuffs, since you apparently could have gotten out of them any time you wanted."

"That old Imperial model has a weak spot," Kallus replied dismissively. "You should invest in better handcuffs."

"We'll think about it," Jarrus replied dryly. He helped Kallus to the med bay and back onto the bed. "Here," he told him, holding out a perigen patch. "I can feel how much you need it. Just use it."

"If you insist," Kallus replied, pressing the patch to his neck. The relief was immediate. Kallus was glad the painkillers worked so quickly. His leg had hurt so much it pushed even his pain tolerance.

"Anything I can get for you?" Jarrus asked. Kallus raised an eyebrow. "Within reason," Jarrus added quickly. "I'll get you something to eat, but if you want anything else, now's the time to ask."

"Could..." Kallus hesitated for a moment, then plunged forward. "Could I borrow a datapad?"

"A datapad?" Jarrus repeated. "Um, what sort?"

"Anything that can connect to the HoloNet is fine," Kallus replied. "I want to brush up on my knowledge of recent history."

"Okay," Jarrus replied dubiously, leaving the room and locking the door behind him. Kallus looked around the med bay. It wasn't a particularly interesting room. He knew all about it after being stuck in it so long. He found he was actually interested in the thought of having a tour of the Ghost, although he doubted there would be an offer of such a thing.

"Here you go," Zeb stated as he entered the room. "A ration bar" - he tossed the bar at Kallus, who caught it neatly - "and your datapad." He handed the pad to Kallus, frowning at it. "Why did you ask Kanan for a datapad anyway?"

"I want to do a bit of research," Kallus replied.

Zeb shrugged. "Okay." He sat down in the chair near the cot. "What are you researching?"

"Are you going to stay here the entire time?" Kallus asked.

"I'm on guard duty," Zeb replied. Kallus hadn't realized the rebels were still going to do that. "So I'm watching you until Sabine comes to relieve me."

Kallus unwrapped the ration bar and took a bite. It wasn't particularly tasty, but it didn't taste any worse than the Imperial ones he was used to. "I won't be particularly interesting to watch," he warned, picking up the datapad. In the search box, he typed "fall of the Republic."

"It's okay," Zeb replied, stretching out. "I was thinking about taking a nap anyway."

Kallus chewed slowly on his ration bar as he began to sift through the search results, looking for anything that wasn't written by the Empire. He thought it was high time he knew a bit more about his former employees and what they were up to. He had enough time that he could start at the beginning.

* * *

The rebel base was on a ship carrier that Kallus was fairly certain had once been in orbit over Ryloth. The Ghost docked and Jarrus came to escort Kallus off the ship. He limped towards the cargo hold.

"You ready?" Jarrus asked. Kallus nodded. The doors opened, revealing the busy carrier. People paused in what they were doing to gawk at Kallus, and some of the stares were distinctly unfriendly. He supposed he probably deserved that.

"Commander Sato," Jarrus called.

A man with hair just beginning to go gray turned. "Captain Syndulla told me you were coming," Sato stated. He turned to Kallus. "And this is your prisoner?"

"I am Kallus, formerly Imperial Security Bureau agent 021," Kallus stated. He held his head high. The next words he uttered would change everything, but he had no doubt in his mind that he was going to say them.

"I'd like to join your rebellion."

* * *

 **A quick note: The events of this fic are not meant to be the entirety of Kallus' redemption. Obviously, he has further to go. I might write more in this 'verse, but for the moment, this is the "first steps" (as the title indicates) towards redemption for Kallus.**


End file.
